Composition for resisting heat.



innnr. wonrn, or oamnnrnen, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB, or onn-ronn'rn 'ro LEROY A. AMES, 01E SPENCER, MASSACHUSETTS, AND ONE-FOURTH T0 EVERETT E.

KENT, 0E NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

coinrosrrron' non RESIST-MTG Hna'r.

1,263,31. 5V0. Drawing.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MERL R. WOLFARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Compositions for Resisting Heat, of which the following is a specification.

This inventionrelates to improvements in compositions of matter-for resisting heat, without cracking or crumbling under severe conditions, and in methods of making the same. It has been developed more especially to meet the peculiarly strenuous conditions which exist within the combustion chamber of a particular type of an internal combustion engine, burning liquid fuel, but it is applicable to many other uses, some of which are hereinafter suggested. It is especially the object to provide a composition that can resist conditlonswhere the temperature.

stresses are severe, and tend to break down the structure of the material exposed to them, either because of extreme temperature in the temperature of. a material are known to be especially difficult to withstand under extreme conditions. The life of material under such conditions appears to be more, or less independent of the period of time be-,

tween variations, but almost directly proportional tothe number of variations or periods. This fact has been partially recognized at least, for many years; that is, efl'orts have 1 been made to keep the temperature in large "engines approximately the same when not operating as when operating; also the life of many furnace linings is estimated by the number of heats rather than by the duration of any particular heat.

4 Also in'many industrial fields a material is required both to withstand pressure and at the same time to permit the flow of a considerable' amount of heat through it. Thus, for example a confining wall may be exposed on one side to a furnace flame and be in contact on the other with water, as is the case in certain portions of a steam boiler or of an interna combustion engine. erever, under these conditions, the prre to be a is t 'h, i F capaci of a re- Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr. 23, llwllfio Application filed au ust a, 1916. Serial no. 113,696. g

ing vessel is large, and particularly if both of these conditions coexist, the thickness of p the wall of the vessel must be relatively .great. This causes the temperature difference between one side of. the wall and the other to be excessive and c the resulting stresses in the wall to become extreme. Sometimes it may be desirable tolaminate the structure of such a wall, as where it is exposed to the flame, insuch manner that the lamina or layer is exposed independently of the pressure sustaining wall, and also may shield it from the extreme temperature of combustion. This laminated structure may be very useful wherever the space available .for combustion is positively restricted, or

wherever it may be desirable to restrict it, in

which case the lamina in contact with the flame may be maintained at a glowing temperature. By this means the combustion of the more diflicult fuels may be materially improved. Reference is hereby made to my co-pending application for patent Serial Number.8829 in which one form of the invention herein set forth .is shown and claimed in combination with certain elements of an internal combustion engine.

I have discovered that a certain amount of nickel alloyed with iron will make a prodduct having characteristics which are adapted to withstand-these conditions, and which, so far as I am aware, are not possessed by the previously known material that is avail- I able for use under commercial conditions.

In the best form in which it have made- My experiments also indicate that while pur-' ity of the iron is not'essentialbetter results are'attained with small percentage of. carbon. The alloy may be made by melting togetherthe desired amount of nickel and of iron, according to inethodsusually' employed in the art, and can be handled.- upon coolin from the molten State by the usual of handling metals. It is a articular advantage of this alloy that it is d to be cast in its to, d that when 5 easily machined to any desired shape. In

common with other metals it has the property of being tenacious at ordinary tempera- I tures, but unlike other metals it retains a high degree of. tenacity at high temperatures, and under conditions underwhich all other commercially available metals known to me have failed. With respect to tenacity it is of course entirely dilferent from materials such as porcelain and other. earthen substances, commonly called refractory, both because such substances are apt to, be porous and so not adapted either to conduct or'to confine gases under pressure, are always more or less fragile, are not easily shaped to conform precisely to a machined surface, and also-,because they will crack and crumble under the influence of heat. The distinction is yet more marked when the composition of the 'invention'is. compared with any such material underJ-conditionsin which the ad- .jacent parts of an. integral piece are subjected to widely diii'erent temperatures or to repeated beatings and ooolings. The composition of the invention is in fact particularly useful where a material is desired, capable of withstanding fluid pressure and capable of withstanding 'widely difl'erent' temperatures in closely adjacent regions, or of withstanding repeated heatings and coolings. The well known advantage of metals as compared with earthy substances is largely due to the eater freedom from cracking and crumbllng, but the composition of the invention has properties not possessed by any metal previously known to me. When this composition, and nickel, for example are tested under identical conditions, the mckel will crystallize and crack; or

'iron, for example, will oxidize; or monel metal, "which is reputed for its heat resisting qualities, will crack and break down very quickly, while the composition of the invention undergoes'the test without dis-' cernible change, and the test may be repeated its undergoing any discernible change, in

- strength or structure. Without knowing many times-or for a long duration without with certainty. the chemical explanation for the novel results attained, I believe that it 56 may be that the nickel prevents oxidation of v the iron, and the iron prevents crystallization of the nickel. Whatever the explanation may be, it appears that a rather wide alloy of nickeland iron having an internal.

organization such as results from solidification from a liquid state in approximately its said shape, the nickel constituting about one third to two thirds of the whole.

2. A wall shaped and adapted toconfine material, said wall being in a state of internal stress resulting from great temperature diflerences between adjacent parts thereof and being an alloy of nickel and iron substantially as described, the nickel constitut ing about one third to two thirds of the whole.

3 A device for confining material at high temperature comprising a metal container of about one-third to two-thirds of nickel alloyed with iron, having a relatively low content of carbon and formed without rolling or hammering.

4. A device for confining material at high temperature comprising a body having high heat resisting properties and being the revariation may be made in'the composition of Some of sult of the solidification of a molten union MERL R. WOLFARD.

Witnesses:

Josnrn T. BRENNAN, EvERE'rr E. KENT.

me at Boston, Mass, this 4th 

